Well, it's that time of year again. Time to look back at the year that was 2007 in TNA. Thankfully TNA has a convenient ballot for voting on year-end awards, and it occurred to me that by writing up my thoughts on each vote there'd be a chance I'd convince enough people that my favorites would win. Also I like seeing my name in print. So anyway, here's a breakdown of my voting on the TNA Year End ballot, and my reasons behind it.
FINISHER OF THE YEAR:
The Olympic Slam – Kurt Angle
Black Hole Slam – Abyss
Gringo Killer – Homicide
Border Toss – Hernandez
The Payoff – Robert Roode
3D – Team 3D
Muscle Buster/Clutch – Samoa Joe
Scorpion Deathdrop/Deathlock – Sting
Lethal Combination / Elbow Drop – “Black Machismo” Jay Lethal
Flux Capacitor – Kaz
Styles Clash – AJ Styles
Pick: Border Toss. Hernandez has show the ability to hit this move on pretty much anyone, regardless of size. It can be hit quickly, looks absolutely devastating, and frequently looks so brutal that it solicits a "holy shit" chant. It's also more versatile than your average finisher, as he can use it over the ropes or against another person for additional damage. The Olympic Slam, The Payoff, The Black Hole Slam, The Scorpions, and the 3D are nothing special. AJ barely ever uses the Styles Clash anymore. I never like the time it takes to set up the Muscle Buster, and the Flux Capacitor can only be hit in extremely narrow circumstances (the opponent has to be prone on the top turnbuckle and small enough for Kaz to flip). The Gringo Killer would be a lock, except that I doubt Homicide can hit it on most of the roster. The Lethal Combo isn't even Lethal's main finisher, and the Elbow Drop is somewhat lame.
KNOCKOUT OF THE YEAR:
Gail Kim
Christy Hemme
Ms. Brooks
Karen Angle
Jackie Moore
Roxxi Laveaux
Awesome Kong
Pick: Gail Kim. Why even bother having a vote? I suppose some might be tempted by Awesome Kong, but she came too late in the year, and only works to the extent that she has sympathetic face Gail Kim to play off of.
TAG TEAM OF THE YEAR:
Team 3D
Voodoo Kin Mafia
Motor City Machineguns
Latin American Xchange
AJ Styles and Tomko
Steiner Brothers
Team Pacman
XXX
Pick: LAX. Duh. VKM sucks. 3D usually suck, and bury better teams. The Steiner Bros. and Team Pacman have their roles, but can't do much outside of them. XXX are okay, but have barely been on TV, and aren't that special. Styles & Tomko are funny, but are more like two singles wrestlers working together than a real tag team. So this is a two team race, and the Guns just weren't around nearly as much of the year.
MOST INSPIRATIONAL SUPERSTAR OF THE YEAR:
Sting
Abyss
Gail Kim
Scott Steiner
Kaz
Eric Young
Jeff Jarrett
Pick: Jeff Jarrett. I'm not really sure what this category is supposed to mean, but whatever it is it goes to Jarrett for reminding wrestling fans that there are things in this life a hell of a lot more important than the business. Particularly in the wake of more recent tragedies, that's probably a good lesson for fans and wrestlers alike.
X DIVISION SUPERSTAR OF THE YEAR:
Alex Shelley
Chris Sabin
“Black Machismo” Jay Lethal
Kaz
Shark Boy
“The Guru” Sonjay Dutt
Johnny Devine
“The Fallen Angel” Christopher Daniels
Petey Williams
Senshi
Pick: Alex Shelley. The bottom six haven't really done anything all year. Kaz did nothing for the first three-quarters of the year and then was suddenly thrust into the main event—he sort of skipped the X Division entirely. Lethal's been great, but his character can grow tiresome at times. That leaves the Guns, and I was somewhat torn until I remembered what they had been doing before they teamed up. Shelley was stealing the show every week with Kevin Nash and Paparazzi Productions, and Sabin was, um, there.
MEMORABLE MOMENT OF THE YEAR:
Road Warrior Animal teams with Rick Steiner (Slammiversary)
“Black Machismo” Jay Lethal upsets Kurt Angle (No Surrender)
Gail Kim becomes the first Women’s Champion (Bound For Glory)
Jeff Jarrett is revealed as Eric Young’s friend (Impact)
Booker T and Sharmell come to TNA Wrestling (Genesis)
Sting regains the World Championship (Bound For Glory)
Kurt Angle wins King Of The Mountain (Slammiversary)
Adam “Pacman” Jones signs with TNA Wrestling
Kurt Angle wins every TNA Championship (Hard Justice)
Pick: Jay Lethal defeats Kurt Angle. Kurt Angle had no business holding the X Division Title, and Lethal's win was basically clean. It was a rare moment where there was hope for the X Division again. I called it in my PPV preview, and I was still shocked, which is the makings for good TV. Pacman wasn't all that exciting, and Kurt's winning the title was overshadowed by the heel turn that came after and the fact that he had "won" it the month before. I don't like Booker T, but I could see where if you did that would be a cool, if predictable, moment. The Women's Title didn't mean anything till Turning Point, and the less said about Animal and Steiner the better. Jarrett being Young's friend was cute, and a pretty great moment, but it had the poor fortune of being mired in the interminable Young-Roode feud. As already mentioned, Angle had no business holding all the belts, and his wife's turn made Joe look like a sap. That leaves Sting winning the title, but I soured on that a bit after he lost it 11 days later.
WHO TO WATCH IN 2008:
Matt Morgan
Awesome Kong
Booker T
Kaz
Judas Messias
Black Reign
Rellik
Roxxi Laveaux
Sharmell
ODB
Velvet Sky
Angelina Love
Pick: Kaz? In this category it feels like the fix is in. No one cares about the women, Messias, Reign, or Rellik. So we only have three options, one of whom is already an established main eventer and one of whom has yet to wrestle a match. People who I would pick before (or simultaneously with) Kaz but who aren't on the list are: James Storm, Alex Shelley, Eric Young, Jay Lethal, Tomko, Chris Sabin, Christopher Daniels, Sonjay Dutt, and Petey Williams, roughly in that order.
FEUD OF THE YEAR:
Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle
Sting vs. Kurt Angle
Team 3D vs. The Steiner Brothers
“Wildcat” Chris Harris vs. “Cowboy” James Storm
Team 3D vs. The X Division
Christian Cage vs. Samoa Joe
Robert Roode vs. Eric Young
Latin American Xchange vs. Team 3D
Rhino vs. “Cowboy” James Storm
Pick: Storm vs. Harris. Forgetting for the moment their awful blindfold match, this just a solid old-school feud. There weren't a lot of bells and whistles, but there was a sense that these two wanted to kill each other, and they busted their asses every time they were in that ring. Team 3D lose by default for burying all of their younger competition. Sting-Angle and Rhino-Storm both got uncomfortable at times. Cage-Joe never really recovered from starting randomly and involving Joe's fire-twirlers and "proud Samoan nature". Young-Roode was actually painful at times. That only leaves Storm-Harris and Joe-Angle—I could really go either way here, but Joe-Angle just overstayed its welcome.
MATCH OF THE YEAR:
Angle vs. Sting (Bound For Glory)
Ultimate X: LAX vs. XXX (Bound For Glory)
Kurt Angle vs. Rhino vs. Christian Cage (Impact)
Iron Man: Kurt Angle vs. Samoa Joe (Final Resolution)
Elevation X: AJ Styles vs. Rhino (Destination X)
Samoa Joe vs. Christian Cage (Destination X)
Texas Death Match: Chris Harris vs. James Storm (Sacrifice)
King of the Mountain Match (Slammiversary)
All or Nothing: Samoa Joe vs. Kurt Angle (Hard Justice)
Ladder Match: Christian Cage vs. Kaz (Genesis)
Kurt Angle vs. Jay Lethal (No Surrender)
Tables Match: Team 3D vs. Steiner Bros. (Bound For Glory)
Women's Title: Gail Kim vs. Awesome Kong (Turning Point)
Pick: Angle vs. Sting The main event of their biggest PPV pulled off a big-match feel, with fun run-ins that advanced the story without taking away from Sting's moment of triumph. Joe and Angle both suffer from the fact that their best match was at Turning Point of last year, Lethal vs. Angle was nothing special aside for the ending, King of the Mountain, the Impact triple threat, and LAX vs. Triple X were both great but too chaotic to be match of the year, Cage vs. Kaz suffered from the latter's absence of personality, Team 3D are still disqualified, and Kong vs. Kim was great for a women's match but nothing special in the grand scheme of things, Elevation X was fun but not really a match, and Joe vs. Christian was not as good as their match at BFG. That leaves Storm vs. Harris and Angle vs. Sting, and I could really see strong cases for both. It's a toss-up. Bizarre in its absence is Christian vs. Joe from Bound for Glory.
TNA MVP OF THE YEAR:
Christian Cage
Kurt Angle
AJ Styles
Gail Kim
Sting
Samoa Joe
Abyss
"Black Machismo" Jay Lethal
Pick: Christian Cage. I assume they replaced what used to be the "Mr. TNA" award because MVP somehow sounds like it doesn't have to be a good guy. Angle has done a lot of great stuff for the company, but he's also been involved in a lot of crap. Ditto for Sting. Abyss has tried to do a lot, but has also been fed too much garbage. Lethal is a joke mid-carder right now. Kim has done great things for the Knockouts' Division, but, well, it's the Knockouts' Division. That makes this a three man race, as far as I'm concerned. Samoa Joe and AJ Styles can both make a good case—they both have consistently incredible matches and are now both entertaining interviews. But the fact is that there is no one who is more consistently the highlight of Impact then the Coalition, and the Coalition is just a joke without Christian. Christian blends a whacky stable with main event credibility, and does so every work seemingly effortlessly. He gets the nod here.
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